Instinct

  It held up a large hourglass that only had a few grains of sand. "When this empties, if you're not out here, Malachai, everyone you love will die."

  Nick scoffed until he realized there was a zeitjager standing over everyone in the room, with a bloody sickle angled for their throats.

  Everyone.

  Including his unconscious mother.

  How was that possible?

  Stunned, he looked back at the king of all death and realized the sands in the glass were almost gone.

  CHAPTER 11

  There are some journeys we must take alone. Nick paused as he heard his mother's voice in his head with something she often said to him.

  Birth. Death. Flossing. Toenail clipping. Bathroom breaks.

  Garbage duty ...

  And apparently, facing whatever the heck that thing was outside his condo that appeared to be in charge of the zeitjagers.

  All of those had to be done alone. Though to be honest, he had a childish urge to run through the birds, screaming like a hyperactive kid at the beach on a massive sugar high. A part of him wondered if they'd take flight and scatter like other fowl creatures.

  Most likely not.

  His luck? They'd gut him where he stood and peck out his eyes. They didn't seem like the skittish type. More like the ones Zeus used to torture poor Prometheus for daring to give fire to mankind.

  All right. Strap up, boy. Square those shoulders. Hold that head high. He was the Malachai. It was time to be the baddest beast in the land and show them who was boss.

  But honestly? He wanted to tuck and run screaming in the opposite direction until there was nothing left of him except a vanishing vapor trail. The only thing that kept him from it was the number of people who were relying on him to be rock-steady. His mom. Kody. Caleb. Simi. Xev.

  He refused to disappoint them.

  They needed him to see this through. To be the man he pretended to be--the one he arrogantly professed to be whenever he was challenged. Not the boy he still felt like most days.

  He wanted them to treat him like an adult. This was where adulthood began. And that was what being an adult meant. Handling crap you didn't want to deal with. Standing strong when you wanted to cave. He'd seen his mom do it enough to know the truth. How many times had she put on a brave face while hiding tears and dressing for a job that demeaned her and sucked out a part of her soul?

  And how many times had he overheard her quiet morning pep talks she gave herself as she readied herself to face the coming horrors of a day?

  Yet to feed him and keep a lousy roach-infested roof over their heads, she'd done it, day after day, while never once complaining about it.

  You did what you had to.

  Now it was his turn to strap on his big boy pants and save her and the others. I can do this.

  Nick inhaled a deep breath to steady his nerves and released it as he flashed himself outside to face the demon lord, and see what the beast wanted with him.

  One who was a heck of a lot larger up close than he'd appeared through the window. What kind of steroids did he take? Dang!

  Seriously subdued, Nick paused on the street with a grimace as he glanced around at the demons, who were also bigger up close and personal. Did they just multiply in number, too? He could have sworn there weren't this many a second ago.

  Maybe that was just his nerves learning "new" math. Yeah. Could be.

  As soon as they saw him, they moved into attack formation. Okay, that was even scarier than he'd anticipated.

  Hold it together, Gautier. You've got this.

  I don't got shite ... are you blind?

  Yeah, so much for his mom's self-help pep talks. They didn't work for squat. His gut was still tight enough to form a new diamond mine.

  "Malachai!" His title went through their ranks like a hated whisper.

  For one tiny, infinitesimal moment Nick thought when they did that, that would settle it. That they might run for cover like frightened rabbits.

  Until he realized how right Xev had been. Their fear was more a rallying call than anything else. It made them even more unstable and hostile. More likely to attack him than to bolt.

  Beautiful. Just beautiful. Scared, feral attack demons. Just what he'd asked for.

  Never.

  Tall and deadly, the cloaked demon lord approached him with a quirky smile twisting his lips. Scars covered his weathered face. Dressed black on black, he wore a hood over his head. Peculiar tarnished silver vambraces covered both of his forearms. Each one was embellished with an elaborate snake-and-egg design that seemed oddly familiar, though Nick had no idea why. Tendrils of dark hair framed his angular face as he studied Nick with an unamused stare.

  "You're braver than I thought." More sand appeared in the hourglass he held. "Good. You bought yourself additional time with your courage. For that, I applaud you."

  "Chronus, Chronus, Chronus," a strangely familiar feminine voice said in a staccato rhythm reminiscent of a clock's ticking. "You're being vague and the poor boy has no idea what you're talking about. And look at the poor thing. He's about to wet to his pants."

  Tiamat appeared next to Nick's side with an adorable smile on her face. She brushed a lock of dark brown hair back from his forehead before she propped her arm on his shoulder and leaned against him. "Poor Malachai," she chided. "It's been a weird day for you, hasn't it?"

  A chill went down his spine. "What's going on? What do you want with me?"

  She laughed eerily before she pushed herself away from him and went to stand next to Chronus. "Think of it as a pop quiz. And you were doing unbelievably well."

  "Were?" Nick felt his stomach starting to burn again.

  Tiamat nodded. "We can't have the war starting quite yet. Not until this matter is settled."

  Oh, he so didn't like the sound of any part of this. His ulcer was now the size of Texas and was currently having kittens and ducks. Probably a few lizards, too.

  Pressing his hand against the gastric pain, Nick grimaced and wished he had a few gallons of Tums. "And what matter is that?"

  "The head of the usumgallu."

  That took him by total surprise. What was she talking about? What head? He was the head, right?

  "Excuse me?"

  She stepped forward to pat his cheek in the most condescending way imaginable. The matrons at church would be so proud of how she did that. He was only surprised she didn't pinch his dimples while she was at it.

  "A vote was called. It seems the majority of your generals feel you're unfit to lead them. And since there is another creature born of Adarian's blood, they are asking for us to judge which of you should be named his heir."

  Nick forced himself not to gape or react in any way at something that had to be incredibly bad news for him. "I didn't think it worked that way."

  She nodded. "The Malachai powers can be taken or assumed by another, especially a blood son, if one exists. It would be nothing for your older half brother to claim the birthright from you, should we deem him so worthy."

  Oh goody! How about a good eye-gouging, too? Or groin-clamping? That sounded like even more fun!

  But that brought him back to one stunning point that he still couldn't quite wrap his mind around.

  "Wait ... What? What older brother are we talking about? I didn't think the Malachai could have more than one son at a time who could live past the age of ten. Isn't that an impossibility?"

  Chronos laughed. "Adarian was a crafty beast. Seems he found a way to bypass his curse, and hide his firstborn son from the gods. Something he confided to one of your sarras before he died. Like you, that son is being tested for his abilities, to see who is better suited for the Malachai role."

  Tiamat patted his cheek. "This is where you should hope he fails and you pass."

  Great. Talk about test anxiety. And in this case, Nick had a bad feeling failure wasn't an F.

  It was a D ... as in Death, and he didn't mean a party with Grim. Death as in dead in the grave, never to be see
n or heard from again.

  "And can I have some of the criteria on which I'm being judged?"

  "No."

  His jaw went slack at Tiamat's cold and unexpected answer. "No? Seriously? You're not going to give me a clue about how to pass this test or tell me anything about it?"

  "No. That would take all the fun out of it. For us. But you've already completed a great deal of the test without even knowing, so breathe, child. We haven't killed you ... yet. Relax."

  Easy for her to say. No one was screwing with her life. "Yeah, but I like cheat codes."

  A slow, insidious smile curved her lips. "Life isn't about cheat codes. It's about experience points."

  Gah, they sounded like his mom. "So what's this next part of the test? Will you tell me that much?"

  "You want to heal your mother and Malphas?" Chronus asked.

  "More than anything."

  "Then, knowing that more than half your generals are against you, you will have to choose two to trust. One to stay behind and protect your mother from your enemies should they attack her while you finish it. And one to stand at your back and fight with you and help you finish out your journey."

  Chronus leaned in to whisper insidiously to Nick. "But be warned. Either one could betray you at any time, and use either you or your mother as a bargaining chip with your enemies to save themselves. That's the gamble you take."

  Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.

  "And if I choose not to play?"

  Tiamat tsked at him. "Not an option."

  Of course not. Nick ground his teeth as he cursed his luck and the Fates that had given him this life.

  Tiamat wrinkled her nose at him. "So who will you choose to aid you?"

  The first choice was an easy one to make. There was only one he'd put with his mother in his absence. "Xev to watch over my mom."

  They both appeared shocked by his choice. Though why, he had no idea.

  Until they spoke.

  Chronus tilted his head curiously. "He betrayed his brother's wife. His own child. Did you know that?"

  Nick had no idea Xev had a kid, at all. Still ...

  "I trust him not to harm my mother." Nick didn't know why, just something in the way Xev looked at her said that he would die before he ever allowed any harm to come to her.

  Through and through, he believed in Xev.

  Tiamat looked less than pleased before she motioned to one of the zeitjagers, who quickly left them to obey. "Then it shall be done. And for your ally?"

  Honestly? He didn't trust any of the others at his back. Not even Grim. It just seemed like a bad idea and one step shy of suicide. "Can I pick Simi?"

  Tiamat rubbed at her forehead. "You have to pick from your sarras."

  He'd really rather not. "Kody?"

  Chronus glared at him. "Do I have to subtract time from your life sands to get the point across?"

  Nick was beginning to not like him.

  Truthfully, he didn't want any of them. They weren't his allies. Not really. Grim didn't like him, and that was a major understatement. Laguerre terrified him--she was N-U-T-S, with a cherry on top. Bane ... was ambivalent to basically everything. Nick didn't know Yrre at all. That only left one, and something in his gut wasn't happy about it, but he had no other choice.

  "Livia, then."

  Chronus screwed his face up. "Strange you pick the two you've known the least amount of time. Why them?"

  Nick shrugged. "I know Grim isn't reliable. Laguerre even less so. I barely know Bane and I've yet to meet Yrre. Xev is the only one I really trust."

  Chronus exchanged a puzzled stare with Tiamat. "Then why put Livia at your back?"

  "She says I can trust her."

  "And that's good enough for you?"

  No. Not even a little. But they hadn't really left him with any other choice.

  Besides ...

  "If she does me wrong, the shame falls on her shoulders. Not mine. As my mom says--shame comes to those who do shameful things." Nick sighed, dreading what was next, but knowing he couldn't avoid it. "Now, what do I have to do to make them better?"

  Tiamat held her hand up and a bright red crow flew to light upon her wrist. She stroked its creepy little head.

  "Lerabeth will lead you to the cure you need to awaken your mother and Caleb. You must go to the sacred Nemed in the center of the darkest part of the forest and pick the berries from the largest tree there. Three berries each. Six in total. No more. But be warned, the way is long and fraught with danger. Nothing is as it seems."

  "Have you seen the things that attend my high school? I'm kind of used to that."

  Tiamat snorted at his humor. "Be careful who you put your trust in, as it could be the last mistake you make. You should also be aware that Noir and Azura are trying to claim bodies for themselves. Should they get to your loved ones first, you will never cure them. Your mother and Caleb will cease to exist. Forever. Therefore, your time is extremely limited. You must beat your brother and the other gods to their mission. Whoever finishes their quest first, wins. The loser dies painfully."

  Chronus cleared his throat. "And before you ask. As with life, there are no rules. Nothing is fair. Winner takes all."

  Wonderful. Least they could do is let him have a friend or two for the journey. Someone he could put at his back that he actually trusted.

  But then maybe that was the point. There were times in life when you had no one at your back but your enemies.

  Like his mom so often said, some doors had to be walked through solo.

  "So when do I start this disaster?" Nick asked.

  Laughing, Tiamat stepped back, and snapped her fingers.

  An extremely offended Livia appeared in front of him. Until she saw Chronus and Tiamat.

  Her features paled instantly.

  With a yelp, she rushed to hide behind Nick so he could protect her from them. Not that he was much more than a flesh wall.

  "What is this?" she whispered to him.

  "We're getting the cure for my mom and Caleb."

  She clutched at him. "What?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

  "They"--he jerked his chin toward Chronus and Tiamat--"are giving us the chance to heal them."

  Biting her lip, she swallowed hard. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

  "Not at all. But it's the only chance they have. So, I'm taking it."

  "W-w-w-where are we going?" She'd barely finished asking the question before everything around them went pitch-black nasty. It was so dark, it hurt his eyes and made him see weird spots all around as his eyes struggled to see something out of the absolute nothingness.

  When the light unexpectedly returned, Nick flinched in physical pain from it, and found himself in a dark, foggy forest, instead of the streets of New Orleans.

  Moonlight cut through spooky trees with knobby knees and hanging moss and thick underbrush and thorns. He'd never seen anything quite like it. Not even Azmodea. Off in the distance, he heard the sound of numerous animals, including wolves. The stench of death, pine, and mistletoe hung heavy around them. It was so pungent, he could taste it.

  "What is this place?"

  Livia cursed under her breath before she answered him. "Agonia."

  "Aga-what?"

  "Aga-nee-yah. It's a hell realm, Nick. The one Xev was banished to centuries ago as punishment for betraying his people and killing Caleb's wife."

  Oh ...

  Turning around slowly, Nick studied it with care and great curiosity. Other than being dark and a little damp and cold, the place held a strange ethereal beauty to it.

  "It doesn't look so bad." Certainly not as horrible as he'd envisioned it from the way Xev acted about it. He'd expected it to be a blistering desert hell with no comforts at all.

  But no sooner had that thought finished than the red crow let out a caw that sounded like a blood-curdling scream. The ground beneath his feet rose up to form a giant beast of a man out of absolutely nothing. One with serrated teeth and a massive stone eye in the cente
r of his bulbous head.

  An eye he rotated to glare down at them with. "Who are you? Why have you come here?"

  Definitely not for a fun-filled Disney vacation.

  Nick stepped back cautiously as he decided to take a clue from the one piece of ancient Greek lit he knew, and pulled an Odysseus on the creature. "Nobody."

  Unfortunately, Livia must not have ever read The Odyssey, as she ratted him out immediately. "You're not Nobody, Nick!" She lifted her chin defiantly toward the giant. "He's the Malachai! You better show him respect or else he'll destroy you where you stand!"

  Ah crap. Leave it to her to be honest for once.

  And literal.

  The giant gaped at them. "Malachai? Here?"

  Before Nick could respond with anything more eloquent than a helpless shrug, the entire forest came alive and attacked.

  CHAPTER 12

  Xevikan became aware of his surroundings with a start. Sensing something was off about the room, he blinked and scowled until he met Kody's equally confused gaze. His whole body was stiff as if he'd been in a fight.

  Yet he hadn't.

  Had he?

  Rolling his shoulders, he tried to make sense of what he felt and saw.

  "Where's Nick?" Kody asked him.

  Oh yeah, that's what's missing. Nick had been right beside him a moment ago.

  "I don't know."

  Even Dagon looked baffled by it all.

  "What happened?" Rubbing at his temple, Xev felt as if he'd sustained a stunning battle-blow to the head. Nothing had hit him this hard, with this amount of damage, since Caleb. That demon alone could rattle him like this.

  Dagon went perfectly still, all of a sudden. "Do you smell that?"

  "Smell what?" Kody asked.

  But Xev knew that unique sickly-sweet stench the moment Dagon mentioned it. "Chronus."

  Dagon nodded slowly. "His keepers were here."

  Skimming the room as he turned a slow circle, Xev narrowed his gaze on the shadows. "Or still are."

  Kody frowned. "I don't understand."

  "Neither do I," Dagon breathed.

  He met Xev's gaze with eyes that betrayed his own concern that this was quickly escalating into something none of them wanted to live through again. "You think they took Nick for the Source?"

  His stomach churned at the very thought of it. And yet ... "Why else would the Malachai have vanished? They had to have taken him."

  But why?

  That was the terrifying question.

  If Chronus took possession of Nick, it couldn't be good for anyone. Especially not for anyone in this room. The primal god of order didn't involve himself lightly.